Brother My Brother
by MyraValhallah
Summary: When Severus Snape died he really thought that the universe would stop messing with him so when he was offered the chance to live his life over again with a Lily who loved him as she would never love James Potter he jumped at the chance; unfortunately the universe has a nasty sense of humour.
1. Prologue

Severus knew exactly where he was. He was in the playground where had first spoken with his beautiful Lily, except it was far cleaner than he remembered it ever being. He moved, almost instinctively towards the very swing upon which he had first seen proof that the most beautiful girl in the world was like him. As soon as his backside touched the hard rubber seat a woman appeared before him.

"Hello Severus."

Severus blinked. The woman bore striking resemblance to Lily, apart from the eyes, which were mismatched blue and green.

"Who are you?" he demanded sharply.

"You should know, you've seen my picture more times than anyone else in the wizarding world." Said Lily's doppelganger. "I know she told you about me."

Severus blinked, realizing just who he was talking to. "You're dead."

"So are you." The woman shrugged. "What's your point?"

"But… you died before I even met Lily." he protested. "Six years before. You were hit by a car…"

"I still don't see your point Severus." she informed him waspishly.

"Hazel Evans was a small girl when she was killed, you are a grown woman and cannot possibly be her."

Hazel Evans, Lily's long dead twin sister rolled her blue and green eyes and an exasperated sigh tore from her throat. "While that is they thought you'd take a grown woman more seriously than you would a three year old child."

"Who's they?" Severus asked.

"The powers that be." Hazel announced, as if it should be obvious. "They sent me with a proposition for you."

"Couldn't Lily have done this?" Severus asked, wondering why they'd sent a familiar stranger rather than the person he had loved most.

"Do you want to hear their proposition or not?" Hazel asked. "Because you hear it from me or you don't hear it from anyone, capiche?"

"Very well."

"They would like to offer you the chance to live your life again." she told him. "A life wherein my sister will love you in a way she will never love James Potter."

Severus gasped. The universe wanted him to be with Lily? Well how could he refuse.

"Yes." he nodded.

"Are you sure? You haven't heard their conditions yet."

He didn't care about conditions, all he cared about was his chance to have Lily. "I'm certain."

"Very well," Hazel nodded. "You'll see me on the other side then Severus."

"Pardon me?"

A grin. "This is a second chance for me as well. Peter Pettigrew was never meant to be a Marauder, but when I died he took my place."

"How do you know that?"

"They told me." she gestured skywards. "Rat boy was originally destined for a mediocre little life. And never fear that I would act against my friends. They told me I would have done well in Hufflepuff."

Severus smiled at that. Hufflepuffs valued Loyalty. Lily deserved a loyal sister.

"Alrighty then," Hazel smiled. "Shall we be off?"

"How?"

"We just have to go through the gate." she laughed, gesturing to the small wrought-iron gate that swung open as he looked at it.

"Just like that?" he blinked.

"Just like that." she nodded, offering her hand. "Shall we?"

With nary a moment's hesitation Severus took her hand and together they stepped towards the gate.

* * *

Lily watched the exchange with a strange expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" James asked, concerned. "Everyone gets a second chance- if all goes to plan we'll live through Halloween '81, Harry won't have to grow up with the Muggles, Padfoot won't go to Azkaban and Moony won't be left alone."

"Sev won't be happy when he realizes what the catch is." she shook her head.

"He'd never have agreed if he knew, and Hazel didn't lie. I'll never be a brother to you."

~V~


	2. Chapter 1

_**Hello all and Merry Christmas.**_

_**I feel like I should explain what I'm doing here. I do not like Snape, I've been a Potter Fan since I was seven years old and I've never like the guy. Please don't tell me that he's a good man- yes I know he is but that doesn't mean I have to like him. You get the picture? Great :D Well, I might not like him but I do feel like he got a bit of a rum deal, so I'm giving him a kick in the bum to make him get over Lily, and giving him the chance to fully redeem himself.**_

_**Those of you reading who have been reading my Brand New Beginning story will know Hazel's character- but since my story What Would Have Been was deleted I have a great deal of Marauder era stuff that will not fit into my existing story. Hermione may or may not be turning up rather earlier than she's supposed to but I haven't decided yet.**_

_**This is gonna be a very long story, and will not necessarily follow Cannon very closely, though I hope you enjoy it :)**_

* * *

Severus awoke with a desperate need for relief. He barely noticed as his arms threw back the thick warm blanket that had covered him, and scarcely registered just how small he was as his legs carried him out of the room he had wakened in, across the landing he found on the other side of the door and into a bathroom. He attended to his need and moved to the sink to wash his hands, climbing with little thought up onto the stool that he somehow knew would be there. As the warm water rushed over his hands, Severus glanced up at the mirror and a loud yelp tore from his throat at the sight of the face that stared back.

The face in the mirror was not his own. Never in his life had he had auburn hair and freckles. He looked like a flaming Weasley. What in Merlin's name had happened to him? He was still pale, though less sallow skinned. The auburn mop that grew out of his scalp was shorter than he'd ever worn it, and appeared much cleaner.

_"Oh don't shout. You'll wake the whole house."_

Severus whirled and found himself face to face with the woman who had tricked him into this. She looked like a Patronus, all silver and glowing but it was definitely her.

"You?" he growled. "What have you done to me?"

_"Only what you agreed to."_ she shrugged. _"You have only yourself to blame here, you should have listened to the conditions of your second chance before agreeing to it."_

"That's not me!" he protested, gesturing to the mirror.

_"It is now,"_ she returned. _"Welcome to the life of Tobias John Evans, affectionately termed Toby. You are four years old, and one third of triplets."_

"Triplets." he repeated. "Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?"

_"What do you think I'm telling you?"_ She asked, pleasantly.

"Am… am I Lily's brother?" he longed to be wrong, but his new surname and the auburn hair and freckles…

_"You are a smart one"_ Hazel grinned. _"I told you you were being given the chance to have Lily's love in a way that James Potter never could."_

"This isn't what I wanted." he complained. "I wanted to be Lily's husband, not her brother."

_"Lily and James were made for each other."_ Hazel told him._ "Soul mates if you'll accept the Muggle turn of phrase. I'm sorry Severus but you never had a look in."_

And didn't that just hurt?

_"You've been given a wonderful gift."_ she told him. _"Do you know how many people get a second chance like this? It's a very small number. I advise you to enjoy it, and loosen up a bit."_

"Will I still be a wizard?" he asked, eliciting a laugh from the patronus-woman.

_"Yes, although it will not help our dear Petunia to be the only Muggle child our mother bore, the powers that be are not cruel enough to take away your magic."_

"They just want me to be a Mudblood?"

_"I would have thought that you'd have learned from your mistake about not using that vile word."_ Hazel growled. _"You are_ Muggle born_ and your blood is_ not_ dirty."_

A door opened and a heavy step made one of the landing floorboards creak.

_"I must leave."_ She announced. _"Good luck Severus, and don't try talking to the four year old me about anything I have told you, she would not understand."_

Much to Severus' surprise, Patronus-Hazel leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to his brow before disappearing with a soft pop.

"Toby? Buddy?" the man that the new memories now filling his head told him was his father asked, opening the bathroom door. "Are you ok little man?"

Severus nodded. "I'm fine… daddy."

His new father smiled but it promptly became a loud yawn. "Alright Toby, back to bed with you or Father Christmas won't come."

He gasped, suddenly gripped by fear that he would not get any Christmas presents off a fat old muggle mythical being. He hopped down off the stool and scurried back to his new bedroom and buried himself under his new bedclothes trying to will himself to sleep.

* * *

At seven o'Clock the next morning Toby Evans' room was invaded by his two auburn sisters: Lily in Slytherin green and Hazel in Ravenclaw blue. Severus was rather surprised to notice that Lily seemed happier, more boisterous than she had in the years of their friendship.

"C'mon Toby!" she grinned, taking his hands. "It's Christmas. Mummy says that we can't see whether or not Father Christmas has been until we're all up."

"Come and help us wake Tuney up." Hazel encouraged.

Much to his dismay, Severus could already see the makings of a Marauder in her. But it seemed that Toby Evans was all for a little mischief because his body moved, apparently of its own volition to join his triplet sisters, pausing only to pull on an alarming Gryffindor red dressing gown and slippers before they traipsed into Petunia's bedroom to waken her.

* * *

Ten minutes later the four Evans children sat on the top two steps, awaiting their parents' return. It was a tradition in the Evans home that the parents went downstairs first on Christmas morning and the children followed once the lights were all on.

Finally, their mother's face appeared at the foot of the stairs, smiling broadly. "Come on then sweethearts."

Severus did not think he had ever spent a merrier Christmas. In his old life he didn't recall Christmas being more than a reason for his father to get drunk and turn on him and his mother for their freakishness; and when he'd finally escaped to Hogwarts, Christmas day in the Slytherin Common Room had been little more than an excuse for his housemates to lay into him because he was poor. Then After Hogwarts had come the war, and then, after Lily died Christmas became nothing more than an empty mockery.

There was a large canvas sack with his new name sewn in large friendly, festive red letters letters upon it full of muggle toys, books and sweets all for him awaiting him on the sofa between Lily and Hazel's equally large sacks of gifts. Petunia too had a sack of gifts, though hers sat alone on the over stuffed armchair.

The day was a happy blur of presents, toys and merriment with a huge feast of roast turkey with all the trimmings followed up with a sumptuous Christmas pudding served with custard. Violet Evans should give the Hogwarts House Elves pointers; his new mother even managed to make parsnips palatable, Severus had always hated parsnips

* * *

At eight o'clock that night Violet tucked him into his new cosy bed, cuddling his favourite present, a stuffed toy dragon made of shiny silvery green material whom he had named Draco after his past-self's godson. She kissed his nose and told him that she loved him before wishing him sweet dreams. Severus decided that it might not be so bad to sit back and just let himself be Tobias John Evans and simply forget that he was ever Severus Tobias Snape. It would probably hurt less when Lily finally gave into Potter's advances to allow himself to forget that in another life he had loved her first.

As sleep began to claim him Severus' thoughts turned to Hazel and her future. She couldn't possibly choose a mate as bad as the one Lily was destined for.

Oh how very wrong he was.

* * *

The rest of the festive period passed far too quickly in the Evans household. Toby spent the two weeks of Christmas holiday dividing his time between his presents and playing in the snow with his sisters. He discovered the appeal of snowball fights; just how fun it was to spend a couple of hours pelting handfuls of snow at someone. Honestly, he had never done anything like this before. Hazel, who was the most competitive of his three sisters quickly proved herself to be the best ally in a snowball fight.

After each session of playing out in the cold, their mother sat them before the fire, each wrapped in a soft warm blanket and gave them each a mug of cocoa or warm fruit cordial. Toby honestly didn't care which she served. He just didn't want it to end, unfortunately, as is the way the world works when one is having the time of one's life it did end, all too soon.

~V~


End file.
